Portable insulated partitions, commonly referred to as bulkheads, are used in the food distribution industry to compartmentalize refrigerated containers and bodies, such as trailers. The bulkheads allow for multiple temperature zones within a trailer. The bulkheads are typically used to divide a trailer transversely, but could also be used longitudinally.
A typical insulated bulkhead is formed as a panel having a certain height and width, and provided with a compressible gasket around its periphery to achieve a tight seal within the trailer. However, there are no standards in the trucking industry to dictate the inside width and height dimensions of the trailers. Therefore, such bulkheads must be manufactured to a specific trailer dimension to ensure a tight fit with the trailer walls, floor and ceiling. This lack of uniformity limits the use of each bulkhead and requires many sizes to be made and kept in inventory in order to meet custom fit specifications. Producing custom fit bulkheads results not only in cost disadvantages, but can also cause lead time problems when trying to obtain a panel of the appropriate size.